Local Wildlife Sightings, February 2026

 With the exception of a few days in the first half of January, the weather in the first six weeks of 2026 was dull, dank and dismal. Rainfall in this part of the country was well above average but not excessive, and sunshine was at a premium. We were lucky to avoid the extreme rainfall and flooding in the south west of England or the heavy snowfall and 20+ days without sunshine in Aberdeenshire, but the late winter weather here was pretty miserable, nonetheless. No unusual birds were seen in or from the garden, although Stock Doves were back, underneath the feeders, from late January. In the surrounding area, large flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares were seen. Were these birds new arrivals, driven out of The Continent by continuing bad weather, returning birds from further west or had they been around locally, out of sight and hearing, throughout the winter?

Stock Dove in my Garden, 1 February

I was lucky to get a glimpse of a wintering Bittern when I visited Amwell on the 2nd. It crossed a patch of cut reeds near the White Hide (as seen from the viewpoint) before I had time to get my camera ready. There are possibly two Bitterns wintering here, but they are very hard to see! A large flock of Lapwings was flying about, looking for somewhere to land - most of the islands had been submerged as the water levels had risen during this very wet period.

Lapwings with Egyptian and Canada Geese, Amwell, 2 February

'New' birds for the year seen on local walks included a Raven, seen near Royston Hospital on the 11th, and three Golden Plovers, seen off the Icknield Way north of Therfield on the same day. A Barn Owl (or, rather, the top of its head) was seen on the 17th in the same owl box near the bottom of Church Hill where it had been seen last December. Three Stonechats (one male) were in the same area and another male Stonechat was seen along the Icknield Way, still in Hertfordshire, between Royston and Flint Cross on the 6th. A flock of an estimated 110 Corn Buntings were seen in fields and bushes between Therfield and Reed End on the 9th, having been joined by three Reed Buntings and 40 Yellowhammers, but there was no sign here of the large numbers of Chaffinches that had been seen in this area in January. Nine Tufted Ducks (a record) were seen on Phillup's Lake on the same day, but numbers of Canada Geese had declined from 36 to three.

Male Stonechat, seen between Royston and Flint Cross, 6 February

Female Stonechat, Thrift Farm, Royston, 17 February

A few of around 110 Corn Buntings seen between Therfield and Reed End, 9 February

'Record Shot' of one of three Golden Plovers, Therfield, 11 February

Kestrel, Reed, 11 February

I made another visit to Scales Park on the 10th. Once again, Crossbills were present and on this occasion a big group of 20 individuals was seen. I also saw my first local Marsh Tits of the year (two), flushed a Woodcock and saw a Raven.

Male Common Crossbill, Scales Park, 10 January

Reports of a Black-necked Grebe at Amwell encouraged me to visit on the 17th. In addition to the grebe (image below) I saw both female Smew, which have been present on Great Hardmead Lake for several weeks, but have generally been hard to see.

Black-necked Grebe, Amwell, 17 February

The weather improved slightly towards the end of the month, although remaining unsettled, but little of interest was seen on my local walks. Redwings continued to show more or less wherever I went and towards the end of the month a few were heard singing. On the 27th I headed back to Watersmeet LNR in St Albans for a very productive hour, seeing Siskins and Redpolls on the feeders there. One of the Redpolls was brighter and whiter than the others, suggesting that it might be the flammea sub-species, formerly regarded as a separate species - Common or 'Mealy' Redpoll. Since all Redpolls are now regarded as a single species I didn't spend too much time poring over my photographs to see whether I could confirm its identity to sub-species level. I'm not even sure whether it was captured on my camera - a couple of my Redpoll images are shown below.

Redpoll 1, Watersmeet LNR, St Albans, 27 February

Redpoll 2, Watersmeet LNR, St Albans, 27 February

I also saw my first Blackcaps of the year (two males) here, heard a Cetti's Warbler and saw a Peregrine (presumably one of the Cathedral pair), which circled overhead before flying off. The only disappointment was failing to see a Bullfinch, a bird that has been reported here from time to time but is becoming vanishingly rare locally. Watersmeet is a lovely, bird-filled little reserve and well worth a visit (particularly in the winter months) if you get the chance, but bear in mind that, being near the river, it can be quite boggy!

Male Siskin, Watersmeet LNR, St Albans, 27 February

UK Wildlife Sightings, February 2026

 On a dank, dismal day that was a feature of late January and early February, I visited Grafham Water (Cambridgeshire) on the 3rd, hoping to see one of the many (up to nine) Great Northern Divers that were wintering there. I was in luck: not only was a diver resting near the dam, close to the main car park, but I had chosen a day when parking was free! With a maximum temperature of 3C on the day and a lively breeze blowing in my face, I took a few photos of the diver and of a nearby flock of 20-25 Goldeneyes and left.

Great Northern Diver, Grafham Water, 3 February

I was lucky that a free day for bird watching (on the 4th) coincided with the best weather in the first week of February (dull, but bright with occasional sunshine later in the day and no rain until after dark). I visited the east coast of Norfolk, starting at Great Yarmouth where there used to be a sizeable flock of wintering Mediterranean Gulls (10-20 birds) on the beach on past visits. I hadn't been for a few years and could only find two birds this time. Whether this was due to a decline in wintering numbers or that other birds were elsewhere in the area, I don't know.

Mediterranean Gull, Great Yarmouth Beach, 4 February

I moved up the coast to Winterton, where I soon found the wintering Snow Buntings, my target species, sitting on top of one of the fishermens' huts, close to the car park. A couple of photographers were lying on the ground nearby, waiting for the birds to come down to feed on a patch of grass that had probably been 'laced' with bird seed. However, the buntings were reluctant to come down to the ground so I left them to it and moved on again, heading for Sea Palling.

Three of a flock of 23 Snow Buntings on the roof of a fisherman's hut, Winterton, 4 February

The juvenile Iceland Gull, my target species at Sea Palling, was located a few hundred metres north west of the lifeboat station, feeding alongside a few hundred other gulls and waders from a section of beach that stuck out into the sea, close to some rocks. I was told that adult and first winter Caspian Gulls were amongst the many Herring Gulls seen here, but for once I didn't spend much time searching for them - I had more bird watching to do.

Juvenile Iceland Gull (on the right) with other gulls, Sea Palling, 4 February

My final stop was at Hickling Broad, where I walked around the Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserve before heading down to the raptor watchpoint at Stubb Mill. On the way round the reserve I added Bearded Tit, Treecreeper and a single over-flying Common Crane to my year list. A Black-winged Kite, probably the same bird that I had seen for the first time at Hickling last year, had been present nearby during the previous week, but I was out of luck here: the bird did not make an appearance and was not seen on subsequent days either. However, as I was about to leave the raptor roost site at Stubb Mill a male Hen Harrier came in to roost. I missed this bird as I was putting up my tripod again to look for it, but I did see one of possibly two 'ringtails' (females or first winter males) that followed it in, to complete an excellent, if hard working, day of bird watching.

On the 12th, in my next 'twitch' of any distance I went just across the Hertfordshire boundary to Fishers Green in Essex, to see a single Tundra Bean Goose (a rare winter visitor from The Continent that I had missed when I visited Abberton Reservoir in January) and a flock of Russian White-fronted Geese. The weather was atrocious, but I managed to locate and photograph the birds. The only problem was that car parking payment was by 'app' only. After spending time downloading the required app and setting up a password, etc. a local fisherman walked by and remarked that parking was free because the authorities hadn't installed the cameras yet! So, for the second time in a fortnight, I got away with free parking.

Tundra Bean Goose, Fishers Green, 12 February

Russian White-fronted Goose, Fishers Green, 12 February

My partner and I spent a weekend in Eastbourne from the 13-15th. I expected bird watching to be minimal, but discovered on the first evening that there was a spectacular Starling murmuration, centred on Eastbourne pier (where the Starlings roost). On the Saturday, after a rare sunny day, we returned to see the Starlings. Murmurations are always difficult to capture well in the failing light, but I managed to take a few videos of the birds, as well as (less impressive) photographs, one of which is shown below. I estimate that about 3,000 birds were involved.

Part of a Starling Murmuration, Eastbourne, 14 February

During the following week I saw all five grebe species that occur in the UK. Great Crested and Little Grebes, which are common residents, were seen at various locations. A Black-necked Grebe (an uncommon breeding species here) was seen at Amwell (see my 'Local Wildlife Sightings' post for February) and on the 18th I visited Rutland Water, where I (eventually) had good views of a Red-necked Grebe, an uncommon winter visitor that does not breed in the UK.

Red-necked Grebe in Winter Plumage, Rutland Water, 18 February

To 'complete the set' of grebes, I drove up to RSPB Titchwell Marsh on the 20th to see a Slavonian Grebe (a rare and declining Scottish breeder and also a winter visitor), that had been present for several days on the Tidal Marsh, where a female Scaup (which had been present on my previous visit) was also feeding. I didn't stay for long on what was another poor weather day, but I did stop on the way back down the A10 at Sedge Fen (near Southery) , to view a flock of Bewick's Swans (along with a few Whoopers) which was feeding there.

'Record Shot' of a Slavonian Grebe, RSPB Titchwell Marsh, 20 February

One of a flock of about 50 Bewick's Swans, Southery, 20 February

I boarded the RSPB Hitchin and Letchworth Local Group coach for its first visit to the WWT London Wetland Centre, near Barnes, on the 22nd. Ring-necked Parakeets were around the visitor centre to noisily greet us. Out on the 'wild side', a few of our members saw Bittern and Bearded Tits. I spent a fair bit of time photographing birds in the 'collection', concentrating on those seen in the UK, such as Garganey and Red-crested Pochard. Male Goldeneyes were displaying in their enclosure, much to the apparent bemusement of the females. I won't include any of their images here, but will concentrate instead on the 'genuine' wildlife.

Ring-necked Parakeet, WWT London Wetlands Centre, Barnes

I made my first visit of the year to the Suffolk coast on the 25th, parking at RSPB Minsmere but initially walking up onto Dunwich Heath where, after a fair bit of searching, I was able to locate and photograph a Dartford Warbler. My other target species here, Woodlark, proved frustratingly difficult to see. At least three birds always seemed to be singing nearby, but it took a couple of hours before I was able to eventually see one in flight.

Dartford Warbler, Dunwich Heath, 25 February

Back at Minsmere I struggled to find much of interest. A flock of Barnacle Geese was out on the South Levels, but my best sighting was of an Adder, coiled up on a bank opposite the Public Hide.

An Adder at RSPB Minsmere, 25 February

I moved on up the coast to Kessingland, where four Shorelarks had been reported. I hadn't realised just how big an area of coastal land I would have to cover to see these birds and, with dusk approaching, I missed out on this occasion. The birds had been seen a few minutes before I arrived, but there was nobody on site to direct me. I've been lucky to see the vast majority of birds that I have 'twitched' this year, so I wasn't too disappointed to miss out here.